Mist prevails as the earth slowly heats, releasing some of the water absorbed during the wettest winter on record here in Ireland.
The air is still and birdsong echoes through the foggy dew…
The first of the seeds are now sown in a big fish box in the tunnel, made from thick, white polystyrene, once marked out for the dump but rescued and up-cycled here at Bealtaine Cottage…perfect for seeds and young plants!
There’s a digger at work on the hill of Ballyfermoyle, I hear it’s machinations echoing through the misty morning.
Young trees and bushes are being torn up and tossed aside, in an effort for land to be measured by the EU on Google Maps.
Less tree cover shows more grass and it is grassland that the EU are paying farmers here in Ireland to grow.
More grass, more meat, more export, more globalization…you know the story!
And so, the Earth is losing more habitat in a land that cannot feed it’s own people…Ireland is heavily reliant on imported food!
Another famine lurks around the corner, as monoculture food systems are the order of the day, financed and controlled by the EU bureaucrats, blinkered up to the eyeballs with bullshit!
In this land of plenty there is little food grown around this area.
EU sponsored, subsidized and pimped Monoculture prevails!
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Bealtaine Cottage has built up a Permaculture Seed Bank.
If you want to see a list of available seeds, this link will take you there…
http://bealtainecottage.com/seeds-from-bealtaine-cottage/
Seeds from Bealtaine Cottage in Ireland are posted all over the world…the donation remains the same no matter where you live, even Outer Mongolia!
Bealtaine Cottage is also on YouTube…with over 110 videos about Permaculture, planting, growing and living.
There are over 600 blogs in the archives on this site.
As an Ark for Nature, trees and wildlife, the smallholding of Bealtaine Cottage receives no grant aid from the EU, as only farm animals, monoculture and set-aside are grant-aided!
Your donation helps remedy that…
Hi Colette, here’s the article I wrote about you and Bealtaine Cottage at Van-Kal Permaculture. Thanks for letting us use your beautiful pictures, and let me know if everything is ok.
http://www.vankalpermaculture.org/colette-oneill/
Mike
A wonderful article…blessings XXX Colette
It is madness on a massive scale but you are making a difference! Since discovering your fabulous blog last summer I have completely re-thought my vegetable patch. It was the corner of a field before I converted it to a garden of raised, no-dig beds 4 years ago. I was already chemical-free and using home-made compost, leaf mould and manure from our horses but I was still fighting nature by planting up mono-culture beds. It was the only way I knew. Due to your inspiration, I’m now converting to potagers and permaculture perennial beds. It’s so exciting!
Please could you promote the free on-line course which I’ve signed up to and which I’m hugely enjoying. It’s at:
http://www.permaculturedesigntraining.com/
Thank you so much for your contribution to a sane world!
Jo x
Absolutely…promoting it now! Leave as many comments and links as you like to anything permaculture or genuinely enabling sustainability! Great to hear the beds are working out for you…they are the easiest way to grow for sure!
Blessings XX
Next job is to make a start on replacing the lost hedges and trees on our rented 50 acres of grazing. Silly me, I thought we would need lots of money to buy hedging plants but of course I can take cuttings from the lovely mixed hedge that still forms our boundary!
Good news! The EU proposed seed regulation has been massively voted against, so we are saved for the time being.
So sad to hear what is happening just across the way from you. I am waiting for greedy contractors to start cutting the verges yet again. I try not to get angry, but my despair is because they can’t see the beauty in nature, or even begin to understand the connection with the plants, insects, birds and us too.
It was my birthday yesterday, and much to my surprise, I was given two packs of your seeds, which one of my daughters gave me. She said it was nice to feel that our gardens were connected in some way. So thank you, and I shall sow the seeds of Black Tomato and Honesty and await the outcome.
Happy Birthday and may your wish come true! So lovely to hear about the seeds. I have just been down in the Bog Garden making a new path to another little secret spot that has grown beautifully over the years. The EU actually paid farmers here to rip out hedgerows, some of which were hundreds of years old…I despise these bureaucrats of destruction and greed!
Blessings X
Oh my but those scones look real delicious! Don’t suppose you have a recipe for them?
I think slowly but surely, thanks to blogs like yours and social media, people are becoming more aware of what is happening to our food supply. Only baby steps at present, but more and more people are growing their own, or buying from local farmers. I do hope that future generations carry the momentum forward!
A very simple recipe! Work fast! Don’t over-work!
8 ozs SR flour. 1 tsp baking powder. Sieve. Rub in 2 ozs Butter. Stir in 2 ozs caster sugar. Mix to a soft dough (quickly) with yoghurt. Shape into scones. Bake in hot oven for 10-15 minutes. Try not to eat them all and don’t blame me if you can’t move afterwards! Oh, and you can add Caraway seeds, dried fruit…whatever…be creative and let me know how you get on!
Blessings X
I will certainly try these this weekend! Shame we can’t get clotted cream here in the US, as I have some wonderful strawberry jam I made last season! Thank you, I will let you know how I do!!
Hugs, Lyn
How crazy! On the one hand there is the Wildlife and Habitats people who won’t let you even look at nature and then another goverment body is ripping the countryside apart. Madness! But the good side is that people like yourself are inspiring and encouraging people to grown their own food. I have also noticed a lot of people who are becoming aware of how awful supermarket food is and realising that they are missing taste and goodness. Another little step and they too will be growing their own.Things are looking up. We hope you are well and happy and grief is easing. xxxx
How right you are…the EU are enforcing so many laws on wildlife yet ripping the heart out of the countryside…all smoke and mirrors!
People are awakening to their own existence and even taste buds are awakening…processed food is quite sickening!
All is well and I’m good!
Blessings XXX